Undercover Reporter Bashed
Posted on 27. Jul, 2009 by Stenberg-Tendys W.L. in Education
A young Indian female ABC undercover journalist, acting on behalf of the Australian television program, Four Corners, received threats during the making of the program, before being attacked and bashed. The program reveals the fraudulent education and migration scams, involving foreign students desiring to study in Australia.
Appearing as a prospective student, the woman met with two different migration agents. For around $5000 she was told she could receive a fake work certificate, as well as pass an English Language Test, even though she had no English skills.
The TV program is to reveal how Indian students are being exploited by fake colleges and unscrupulous migration and education agents. Some students are paying up to $20,000 for a positive result in an International English Language Test System exam. An extra fee will provide them with false bank documents and loans, that meet the Australian immigration laws.
It is believed the $15.5 billion international education sector is nothing more than a crooked immigration racket, complete with forged English language exams and bogus courses, as well as make-believe marriages. Most universities depend on international students for around 15% of their annual income. Nearly 70,000 Indian students annually study in Australia, with nearly 500,000 international students living in Australia. Many students enroll in courses so as to be able to apply for permanent residency.
Police arrested three men in the Indian city of Ludhiana, Punjab, the main source of students wanting to enter Australia. The men were charged with forgery and impersonation, after being caught sitting an IELTS exam for prospective foreign students. Other agents arrange ‘contract marriages’ to partner students who have passed the necessary English test.
Pushpinder Kaur, says her son has no pilot’s license and the family is broke. Prabmeet Singh’s family spent $40,000 on a course in a flying school in Sydney, Aerospace Aviation. “It is a fraud. The Government should be more alert in these type of matters because it is the career of the children which is at stake,” said Pushpinder.
“I do not believe the college even has a kitchen,” said Kumar Khatri, from Nepal, who was enrolled in a Sydney cooking school, Austech.
Karl Konrad, an education and migration agent based in Sydney, says “I have been aware of a black market in dodgy documents for years.” He made a report to the Immigration Department. They said would they would pass the information onto the Trades Recognition Australia, but nothing happened.
Approximately 51 foreign students have died Australia in 2008. 34 deaths were from unknown causes, 15 from accidents and three from illness. Many were Indians, whose families had sold land and taken on huge loans, believing their child’s success would pay them back.
Some students, trapped in economic slavery are forced to work long hours without a break, for free, in lieu of fees. Yet the supply does not outstrip the demand.
